Day 15: We arrive in Thessaloniki

After an early morning wake-up call – and I do mean early – we are ready to bid Turkey and our guide, Orhan, farewell.  We groggily load the bus and head off to the airport for a very early morning flight to Athens and then on to Thessaloniki.  After a pleasant flight we entered the European Union, and what we thought was an hour and forty five minute layover was really only a 45 minute layover, not enough time to get through customs and to our next plane.  Luckily we all made it; the flight was delayed quite a bit. 

We arrived tired and hungry in Thessaloniki and met our new guide Criton and driver Michael.  They wanted us to begin our touring immediately but we told him that wasn’t possible and we went to our hotel and, having missed lunch in our travels, many of us went to enjoy the local food: McDonald’s.  If you haven’t had a Big Mac outside the country you don’t know what you are missing! 

We took the rest of the day off and slept or played cards.  We had Mass that evening at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church down the street from the hotel.  The Church was very beautiful and welcoming and ministered by French Priests.  The Catholic Community in Thessaloniki is small, but very international, mostly made up of immigrants.  We met people from all over the world, even from Fr. Peter Damien’s village in Nigeria, as well as a group from the Philippines. 

Not much else occurred today, except that as we were walking home from the Church and Mass we realized that we had forgotten to sell Zach to the Turkish prison.  Oh well, perhaps we can find him a new home in Greece.

 Day 16  Thessalonika

Our time schedule here in Greece is not quite so demanding, we get to sleep in until 7:30 instead of our normal 6:30 wake up call.  Today we go to the place of Lydia’s Baptism, the prison Paul was thrown into in Philippi and the countryside in between.

After spending some time here in prayer, we set off for the Baptistery of St. Lydia.  Lydia was a dye saleswoman and her household were among the first to be baptized in Macedonia (see Acts 16:11-15).  The place on the river that this is supposed to have happened is now a small outdoor amphitheater with a contemporary baptistery nearby.  After reading her baptismal story in the light rain, we entered the baptistery and even though it was overcast and we couldn’t find the lights, the church was naturally lit with beautiful stained glass windows and a glorious mosaic-ed cupola. 

Our next stop was Philippi.  Besides Biblical or Christian significance, this city also has other historical significance.  It was here in Philippi that Octavian and Antony defeated Brutus and Cassius in 42 BC, thus ending the Republic of Rome and beginning the Roman Empire ruled by emperors, or Caesers.  (Ever read Shakespeare’s Julius Caeser?) 

When we came to Paul’s prison we read the passage of his imprisonment (Acts 16:16-40).  The cell believed to have held Paul has been excavated, so we could see down into it.  We prayed there together.  I feel it is a great grace and blessing to be from a country where we have freedom of religion, and I will not be thrown in jail for preaching the Gospel, but at the same time, I am reminded that there are still places in the world where the Catholic Church is being persecuted, and people (and priests and nuns) are suffering and sometimes even being martyred for their Christian faith.  Today I pray for the graces of perseverance, hope, and spiritual fortitude for all Christians for whom being Catholic means being persecuted.  May the words of our Lord be a comfort for them: “And blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of Me, rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in Heaven”  (Mt 5:11-12a). 

Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us!

As I reflect over these first two days in Greece in general I am struck by some seeming inconsistencies.  Although Turkey was not a Christian country, we always felt welcome there.  It has not been that way for me here in Greece, I feel like people are staring and ignoring us.  Our guide has been very helpful, but he is no Orhan.  On our flight here I sat next to an Orthodox Priest and said hello and he didn’t acknowledge my existence.  It is definitely a different reality here.  So as we continue on please remember us in your prayers as we continue to remember you in ours.  As always, Pray for the Conversion of Turkey. 

Day 17:  Thessaloniki, Kalambaka, and the Bema of St. Paul in Beroea

The Bema of St. Paul?  I thought Paul traveled mostly on foot; I didn’t know they had Beemers way back then…  Hm, I wonder if Paul would have driven a red, silver, or black one?  Probably silver because dirt shows up more on black or red, and judging from the ancient roads we’ve seen, even those paved by a kind of marble-cobblestone-slab thingys, they probably got pretty dusty.

“No, no, no,” Fr. McIlhone explained, “not a BMW, a bema.” 

As it turns out, a bema has nothing to do with transportation, but has quite a bit to do with conveyance.  A bema is a stand or a block on which a speaker speaks, or a preacher preaches, kind of like a podium, only without the convenient little platform for your notes. 

The bema we saw was in Beroea, which was a town in the hill country of Macedonia, a large territory in what would now be north-central Greece.  This bema is said to be the one from which Paul preached to the people.  It is very well preserved, and is now a shrine of pilgrimage with beautiful mosaics around the bema area.  Our pilgrimage group took some time to pray there, and we read the text from Acts 17:10-14 which tells of Paul’s evangelization of Bereoa. 

Many of us ascended the three steps of this bema to stand in the exact place where Paul preached from.  When I stood exactly where St. Paul did, and with the words of Acts that the people “received the word with all willingness” (17:11) still lingering in the air, I couldn’t help but wonder what my future priestly ministry would hold in store for me.  Paul’s obvious openness to the Holy Spirit allowed him to preach boldly and with authority, and many people were converted.  If we, as future priests, can preach and evangelize with a fraction of Paul’s boldness and conviction, faith in the Gospel would spread like wildfire through the world.  Please pray that the Spirit bestow the grace of boldness in proclaiming the Gospel, that we may touch the hearts and souls of so many who need it.

Paul had come to Beroea because he was chased out of Thessalonica by Jewish leaders (Acts 17:1-9) who formed a lynch mob to get Paul because they were jealous of his success and rejected the Gospel.  The mob of angry Jews soon came after Paul in Beroea, and chased him out of that town too.  It all makes me wonder what sort of challenges I will be confronted with as a priest.  I pray – and I ask you to pray too – that through this pilgrimage, we receive the grace necessary to preach, live, and love the Gospel with sincerity.

In the afternoon, we drove to Kalambaka, a town in a valley, above which the mountains contain two dozen monasteries (not all are active).  Tomorrow we will visit them.  But today, we stopped at a place where a group of Greek Orthodox monks make their living by making hand painted icons.  On a technical note, icons are not really “painted” because they are not supposed to be works of art to be admired.  While they can certainly be quite beautiful, icons are “prayed,” so when a monk makes one, he “writes” the icon.  Subtle distinction it may seem, but one which Dr. Fagerberg would want us to make; it helps us to appreciate the real beauty of icons.  Whatever Dr. Fagerberg taught us about appreciating icons must’ve worked, because we put a serious dent in the inventory of the monastery shop.  Everyone who bought one (or two or three, as the case may be), had the back of the icon signed by the monk who was in the shop (we kept him busy for a while).

News from the road:  A new favorite past time:  dominoes.  Did you know that a fifteen minute rest stop is good for at least four games of dominoes?  Or five if Hoang is playing.  Uno decks were nowhere to be found, so dominoes have filled that void.

Perhaps we’ve begun to accumulate too many souvenirs.  A few people have upgraded their suitcase or acquired another one.  In addition to the normal trinkets, T-shirts and postcards from Turkey and Greece, some of us have bought hand made pottery, carpets, and of course, the aforementioned icons. 

Buying things here can be fun because you can haggle over prices and make deals.  I think one of Fr. Peter Damien’s hobbies is haggling.  We’ve shared a few jokes about his ability to bargain.  Speaking of shopping, there are many merchants who hope to make an easy buck off of unsuspecting visitors.  They all boast how great their souvenir trinkets are as we walk by. Tony is waiting to buy his souvenirs from a merchant who is honest enough to yell out, “Hey, I got a bunch of junk here!  You want junk, I got it.  Please come into my shop and I’ll rip you off!  Junk for sale here!”

 Day 18:  Meteora, Athens

We are in Athens!…And I am back on for the journal for one day.  (Since I’ve not signed my entries before, this is Pat B.  There are four of us journaling on a rotating schedule: Steve, Tony, Brendan, and me.) 

We had a very special day though before we reached our destination.  The day began early with 7:30 Latin Mass in the hotel.  This is to prepare us for Mass we hope to have with the Holy Father.

Once again we were blessed with amazing weather, especially for the sites we visited- the incredible monasteries of Meteora that are perched high atop towering rock formations.  This place is called Meteora because at one time it was thought that these giant slices and pillars of rock were the results of meteor showers.  But, in fact they are great mountains of limestone and granite.  I do not believe that we yet have pictures up on this site but hopefully soon these will appear.  (Internet access is very slow, and not stable enough yet to send pictures.)

We visited two of the monasteries, one that is now a convent.  There are still seven active communities in the region.  It was quite a climb to reach the monasteries but the natural beauty outside was matched by the sacred art within these holy places.  Again, there was much too much to describe- just a marvel.  We were a bit taken aback though when one of the sisters there objected to us saying a short prayer inside.  She related this to our guide, and apparently because of their strict Orthodox faith this was a big no-no.  (While they tolerated visitors, only Greek Orthodox could pray in their chapel.)  So not quite the ecumenical welcome like we experienced with the Patriarch.

We then had a five hour drive to Athens.  It was a beautiful day for travel – green hills spotted with rock much of the way, taller and snowier peaks in the distance behind them.   Some of us were sleepers, some gazers, Uno players, and others with their music.

News From The Bus:  The gift shop in one of these monasteries sold icons:  It is possible that Glen has surpassed Shawn in purchasing power.  Fr. Peter Damian bought a couple more beautiful icons, too.  Both the Turks and the Greeks should be glad they came, as well as the people back home who should be receiving some nice gifts.

Day 19:  Athens: the Acropolis, Mars Hill & the Aeropogus

As the bus pulls away from the hotel for a tour of Athens, we hear the familiar click of the microphone speaker being flicked on, followed by Fr. Peter Damian’s cheery-eyed trademark “Hi guys!”  The response is a lukewarm cheer, one which has lost some of its authentic enthusiasm, but has nonetheless become a conditioned response.  Thus we have the ritual which precludes the ever-popular on-bus lecture.

The lectures really are quite good, chock full of great information, trivial facts, interesting historical stories, and often great spiritual insights into the Sacred Scriptures or the historical beginnings of the early church.  Today we heard all about the ancient Athens that Paul visited.  It was mostly a pagan city in the first century, and Fr. Peter Damian told us that some ancient writers, in commenting on the excessive proliferation of temples and statues to various deities, emperors and heroes, said that a visitor was more likely to run into a god than a normal person in Athens.  While Athena was the patroness of the city, the people paid tribute to many gods.  In fact, they were so afraid of forgetting to worship one, that they even had an altar on which was inscribed “To an unknown god.”  When St. Paul saw this, he used it as the starting point for preaching the Gospel to the people of Athens: “What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim now to you…”  (You can read all about it in Acts 17:16-34.)  We went to the acropolis, the high-point of the city, and went to the site of the Aeropagus, which was a place of intellectual gathering and the place at which Paul delivered that speech.  It was read to us, and we contemplated it. 

Personally, it was really moving to hear that speech of Paul in the same place.  Many people heard Paul preach that day, but most went away because they thought it absurd that Christ would rise from the dead.  Only a few listened with their hearts.  I prayed that like Paul, we too may seek the best way to share the Gospel with people, then share our faith with all sincerity and hopefully, by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit moves their hearts. 

After this we went to the remains of the temple of Athena, the Parthenon, and the other ruins on the acropolis.  I suppose they were pretty impressive, but we have seen so many ruins of ancient cities that these didn’t stand out as particularly spectacular.  The Parthenon is the most famous structure in Athens, and was built roughly 500 years before Christ and stood until 1687 when it was mostly destroyed in a war.  Some time after Greece had become Christianized, it was converted into a church in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Now it is half-covered in scaffolding as they are doing repairs and restoration in preparation for the 2004 Summer Olympics, which will be in Athens.

We also visited the old Olympic Stadium which was the main stadium for the 1896 Olympics.  It will be used as the finish line for the marathon and the site of the closing ceremonies in the 2004 games.  Few people were around, so we had a chance to goof around and race each other.  Nacho won.  Pat said that if he ever finds himself a wandering gypsy, he is going to come here and rent out Olympic props and charge people a couple Euro-dollars to take pictures with a torch. 

News from the bus:  Wait a sec, there is none!  Very short bus rides today, and all within Athens.  We actually are able to stay in the same hotel for a couple of nights, which gives a chance to relax and catch our breath a bit more.  Anticipation is high for when we are in Rome soon and can really settle in one place!  The extra bit of rest gives us a chance to pause and see how far we’ve really come and how much we’ve been able to see and do… and marvel at how generous and bountiful God’s love and grace is. 

And another thing we’ve come to realize is just how thankful we all are to Jeanne Bruntyn back at the Seminary for working so hard to organize and coordinate the hundreds of details that have gone into planning an eight week pilgrimage for 33 people.  Jeanne, if it weren’t for all of your efforts, we wouldn’t be following in the missionary journeys of St. Paul – without you we would be more like Paul when he was wandering around blind. 

And so with all of our hearts, we thank you. 

<<  insert wild applause  >>

 Day 20:  Corinth 

This morning we left Athens and traveled southwest to Corinth.  For most of the trip, we rode adjacent to an Aegean Sea bay. There were numerous cargo ships and even a few ocean liners and mountains on the horizon.  During the journey, Fr. Jim lectured on Corinth’s history. In 146 AD the Romans sacked this city. In 44, Julius Cesar re-established it.  Corinth had two ports and was financially successful. With the exception of Rome, it was the farthest Paul traveled.  He stayed here for eighteen months.  The city had numerous types of people and religions.  Also, with many people traveling to or from this city, Corinth was ideal for spreading the Gospel. 

As we approached the archeological site, there were orange orchards and we saw a flock of sheep.  We arrived at the ruins, gathered first at a old fountain, and then examined a ruin of a temple of Apollo.  It had seven columns remaining and looked down upon the rest of the site.  At this place, many took pictures and breathed in the history. We then walked to the ruins of the forum (the marketplace), which in ancient times was larger than Rome’s. There were numerous large, square, marble blocks and headless statues. We saw an ancient store that was converted into a Christian Church. To mark this transition, there were crosses carved into the stone. We also saw the town’s  bema, which is a stand or platform that traveling preachers would stand on when speaking and teaching.  This was probably the place where Paul preached and was put on trial.

After exploring the forum, we looked for a place to celebrate Mass. As we prepared for the liturgy, Dan shared a reflection on the site and Fr. Peter quizzed us on the Corinthian letters.  Many of the guys were excited to be at this place, since Christianity flourished here and Paul remained in Corinth for such a long time.  After Mass, the seminarians explored the site on their own.  During this time, some guys examined the old structures by themselves and others took many group  pictures. 

After Corinth, we traveled to Cenchreae, a harbor on the Aegean Sea, which is mentioned in Acts 18:18. At this place, Paul cut his hair, because of a vow.  At Cenchreae, we went to the shore of the Aegean Sea bay.  The water was deep blue, silent, and gorgeous. Thus, it was ideal for skipping stones, so around thirty men, a year before ordination, skipped stones at this ancient site. 

After this excursion, we went to eat lunch at a restaurant adjacent to the Corinth canal. As we walked to the restaurant, we saw a massive ship pass through the canal. On our return trip to Athens, a seminarian read some sections of 1 Corinthians to the group. When we arrived back in Athens, some students continued to explore the city and others prepared for the insane 3 am wake up call for our departure for Rome tomorrow.  Yes, that was 3 a.m.; getting ready for bed after packing almost wasn’t worth the effort.  Our flight left at 6:50, before the sun even wanted to wake up.  Ugh. 

Please continue to pray for us as we journey into Rome.